Microsoft’s full list of alternate Windows Shells revealed

Microsoft is working on modularizing Windows 10, with a variety of shells offering different experiences but with the same OneCore kernel.

Now a look at one of the latest builds of Windows 10 (by WalkingCat) has revealed the full list of shells which will be supported in the future.

The list includes the new rumoured Andromeda shell, which is believed to be a version of the OS optimized for dual-screen book-style computing as with the cancelled Courier above, complete with a Journal app which will be an optimized version of OneNote.

The leak also confirms a new shell for the Surfacer Hub (apparently code-named Aruba) and IoT.

Also shown is a shell for Polaris, which is rumoured to be a stripped down version of Windows which only supports UWP apps.

The presence of this code in Windows 10 at present suggests it may not be long before we see products supporting the new shell arrives, especially in niche products such as Surface Hub, HoloLens and of course the rumoured Surface Phone. The desktop version called Polaris will likely have to wait a lot longer, and who knows if ContinuumPhone will ever make a come back again.